Dear Jeremy: This is a very significant victory for workers in the global economy, especially in the context of post-coup Honduras and the ongoing instability. The major US media have done an appallingly poor job of illuminating the situation in Honduras, much less coverage of the anti-sweatshop warriors' victory. This is consistent with the content of major media on Honduras for some time, where the brutality of sweatshops operated for US firms has been minimized and progressive activists painted in sinister tones, hiding a concealed motive of protectionism. Here'es an excerpt from a piece I wrote for Extra! in 1996: "In …
All 6 comments by...
Roger Bybee
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Dear Frank: Great to hear from you again! Where are you located? I couldn't agree with you more about your analysis of what's needed, although I grow more pessimistic about EFCA every day. You're right about 90% of the Democrats (excepting a few like John Conyers, Tammy Baldwin, Gwen Moore, Anthony Weiner, Dick Durbin, Barbara Lee, Russ Feingold, Xavier Becerra, etc.) refusing to side with workers on globalization, healthcare reform, or financial reform of Wall Street. But despite the extraordinarily well-publicized success of the bold takeover of Republic Doors and Windows, we're not seeing much direct action. In part, it's due …
Posted to 10 Years After: Labor Needs Spirit of Seattle Protests
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"Tools that breathe"--What a magnificent turn of phrase. I'm surprised that Marx did not come up with that to describe the alienation of labor. It is certainly heartening that even under the most repressive conditions in a global economy decisively tilted against working people, that workers in China--like those in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico--never give up the fight for a a decent standard of living and their demand for control over their lives. At the same time, it is appalling that even Democratic administrations fail to press for universal, enforceable standards to protect workers.
Posted to Not Just ‘Tools That Breathe’: Labor Activism Steps Forward in China
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Elkhart also suffered the loss of a major drug manufacturing plant when American Homes relocated production to a low-wage,heavily-subsidized plant in Puerto Rico, as I recall, about 15 years back. . The workers' fitting slogan: "American Homes destroys American homes."
Posted to In America’s ‘RV Capital,’ Another Blow for Workers
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Excellent story, reminding us how far we have slid both practically and metaphorically back toward "The Jungle." In Milwaukee and other Midwestern cities, we witnessed a wave of union-busting among meatpackers beginning in the mid-1970's, that triggered violent confrontations on the picket lines.. Amid high unemployment during the 1974-75 recession, meatpacking companies were able to recruit scabs on a scale not seen in decades. Within the next few years, the meatpacking industry seemed to increasingly shift to small towns in "right-to-work" states like Iowa and Nebraska where union formation is much easier to fight. I hope you will continue exploring this, …
Posted to Nebraska’s Meatpackers Speak Out: ‘The Speed Kills You’
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Dear David: "Plutonomy" is the perfect term for the new economy, where family-wage jobs, our productive capacity, and entire communities are being laid waste so a few can benefit from diverting capital to the casino economy. When di the Wall Street Journal first use this? I thought that they had become considerable less forthright in recent years about the workings of the economy, but occasionally, they must let the truth slip through.
Posted to Michael Moore Takes on Capitalism Itself
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